Living the legend - part 1 of 6 (written by Harry and Jimmy)

This is a little teaser for an fantastic adventure that's going to go down next week. Harry (author of the awesome Pankration series) and Jimmy (author of the awesome Gino and Jayden series) have teamed up to bring you a crossover story of truly epic proportions, bringing together the two worlds that they created for a spectacular event. You can look forward to a weekend of fun: We'll publish parts 2 to 6 on consecutive days starting on May 14th. I'm sure you will love this as much as I did. Harry and Jimmy - thank you so much! You are awesome!

Previous parts:
Pankration
Gino and Jayden

Theo’s eyes were closed. It was still only late morning, but already the Greek sun was beating on his eyelids.

Today is going to be a hot one, he predicted lazily.

The Athenian reclined with his head and shoulders against a heavy ceramic urn. It was his favorite spot in the Princes’ Palace—the still, center point amid a whirl of action. The Palace was the refuge of the Lost Princes, a rag-tag group of teens from the far corners of the Mediterranean world. Most were “princes” in name only, with a few blue-blooded exceptions. Regardless of what had brought them to Thebes in the first place, the Lost Princes all stayed because their Palace was an island of camaraderie and competition. As energetic young studs, they loved nothing more than to compete against each other in sports, games, and even in love. No competition brought all those together quite like the Pankration. Theo relished his role of drawing names for the next match.   

He smiled up at the climbing sun. Under the shade of the colonnade his friends Tallus and Ali were playing chess; Theo imagined that he could hear Ali grinding his teeth each time his barbarian pal surprised him with a clever stratagem. Next to them the young Spartan Lysander was trying for the hundredth time to remember the correct moves, and asking nonstop questions of the silent players. Theo knew that another friend was very nearby, too. Although Amun sat silent and perfectly straight in meditation, the brunette could detect the Egyptian prince’s faint, spicy scent in the sill air. A distant splash followed by a loud sputtering sound reminded him that Nicomachus, the Prince of Thebes, was enjoying his morning swim.

Perfect. I’ll draw the names now. Otherwise Nico will pout at me all night if he isn’t picked.

Theo knew all too well that his rambunctious best friend lived for competition. Nico would fight in the Pankration every day if he could. But although Pankration had very few rules, one was clear: whoever’s name was drawn from urn had to fight. Theo stood and stretched. He pushed his brown curls off of his forehead, and the gesture left his fingertips glistening with sweat.

Yep, this will be a hot one for sure.

No sooner had Theo reached into the deep urn than Lysander bolted up from the chessboard.

“Hey, wait for me!” The Spartan was among the youngest of the Lost Princes, and he was desperately eager to prove his prowess against the more experienced guys. Like Nico, he was ever hopeful of being chosen for the Pankration. Lysander grinned eagerly and skipped in place while Theo squinted at the name he had drawn.  

“Hey, Theo?” Lysander suggested, trying (and failing) to be sly. “Want me to help with picking the names today?”

Theo ignored him. But he could feel the collective attention of the Princes’ Palace shift toward him and urn. Pankration was popular among all the young men of the palace. Even the stoic Amun had cracked an eye open out of meditation to see whose name had been drawn.

Well shit. This is awkward, Theo thought. I’ve never heard of this guy before.

Giving up on holding them in suspense, he held out the stone to Lysander and Amun. Both of them read the name scrawled on it and shrugged unhelpfully. They’d never heard the name before either.

“You didn’t start already?” A familiar baritone voice called from across the courtyard. “Remember I was going to help pick!” Nico arrived seconds later at full sprint, his strawberry blonde curls still dripping wet, and holding his crumpled toga in front of his crotch. The prince’s hazel eyes beamed with enthusiasm, concluding that his name had been picked first. Theo rolled his eyes.  

“Well, since nobody else knows him, I assume he’s a friend of yours.” Theo tossed the stone to Nico. The prince grabbed it, dropping the rest of his toga to the ground in his haste to find out who would be fighting.  

“Oka-aaaay,” Theo scolded. “Could you at least wear some freaking clothes when we do this? For once?” He followed Amun’s dark eyes and glowered at the Egyptian. “You’re gonna make this phony prude of a monk break all of his vows.” Amun’s cheeks flamed under his copper skin, and he quickly tore his eyes away from Nico’s ass, feigning disinterest.

For his part, Nico wasn’t sure what Theo was worked up about, but he got the gist and wrapped his toga loosely around his waist. The wet white linen clung to the athlete’s plump assets translucently, not accomplishing much in the way of modesty. Nico wasn’t paying attention to his wardrobe though. He was trying to place the name of the fighter who had been chosen. He tapped the side of his square jaw.

“Lippo, wasn’t this the name of that army guy who visited my dad last week? The one with the sweet scar?” Nico showed the name to the baker’s assistant.

“No, his name was Meno,” the timid boy answered in a squeaky voice.

“Huh.” Nico thought some more, then his face lit up with an idea. “Well, whoever he is, he’s lucky to have me as his first opponent! I can show him the ropes.” He tossed the stone back to Theo as if it was decided. But the other Lost Princes erupted in protest. Each of them wanted to break in the new competitor too, and they boasted loudly about the painful things they would do to him. Theo shook his head and pondered the unfamiliar name on the stone.

GINO.

“Well Gino,” Theo said under his breath, “You better have some balls on you to join up with this crowd.” 

*********

Part 2 is coming on May 14th.